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Spatial variability of the molecular composition of humic acids from subtropical forest soils

  • Soils, Sec 1 • Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Nutrient Cycling • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Humic acid (HA) plays vital roles in controlling the conservation of soil and water in the forest soils. The structure of HA is closely related to its stability. A clear understanding of the structural difference of HA will facilitate the rational assessment and efficient regulation of forest soils. This study aimed to investigate the structural difference of HA in the forest soils, and the difference in the stability of HA was evaluated according to HA structure.

Materials and methods

Soils were collected from different elevations and profile depths of Jiugong Mountain (Hubei, China). Soil HA was then extracted and purified. The structure of HA was analyzed by elemental analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy, and solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR). The stability of soil HA was comprehensively accessed by structural complexity, alkyl C/O-alkyl C ratio, and hydrophobicity of HA.

Results and discussion

The complexity of HA structure was the greatest in soils in middle elevation (1200 m a.s.l.); it tended to decrease with soil depth in all examined soils. Alkyl C (25.1–40.1%) and O-alkyl C (21.2–44.3%) were the main structural fractions in HA samples. The percentage of alkyl C was the greatest in the HA from middle elevation while the O-alkyl C proportion was the highest in the HA from lower elevation (600 m a.s.l.). Alkyl C percentage tended to decrease with soil depth while O-alkyl C showed an opposite trend. The HA aromaticity increased with soil elevation but decreased with soil depth. The hydrophobicity and alkyl C/O-alkyl C ratio of HA was the greatest in middle elevation, and these indexes tended to decrease with soil depth.

Conclusions

The HA structure in the subtropical forest soils showed clear spatial variability. The structural features of HA implied that the stability of soil HA was the greatest in the middle elevation and it tended to decrease with soil depth in the examined subtropical forest.

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Funding

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD0200506) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 41877031).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtse River), Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Li Jiang, Jun Zhu, Qingling Fu, Hongqing Hu & Qiaoyun Huang

  2. Institute of Environment and Safety, Wuhan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Li Jiang

  3. Institute of Soil and Fertilizer, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, 230031, China

    Hui Wang

Authors
  1. Li Jiang
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  2. Jun Zhu
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  3. Hui Wang
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  4. Qingling Fu
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  5. Hongqing Hu
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  6. Qiaoyun Huang
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Correspondence to Jun Zhu.

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Responsible editor: Anja Miltner

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Jiang, L., Zhu, J., Wang, H. et al. Spatial variability of the molecular composition of humic acids from subtropical forest soils. J Soils Sediments 21, 766–774 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02862-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-020-02862-2

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